Take a rest from sowing seeds this week

Do other garden stuff instead. Eg, renovate your garden beds ready for a green-manure crop or for re-planting.

From 19th April until after the dark of the moon on Wednesday 26th April 2017.

Here are a few areas we turn our attention to:

Weather is getting cooler here in New Zealand, so check soil temperature when sowing seeds. Simplest way is to poke a finger into the soil – is is warm still or not? Some areas of the garden will get sun and be warm. Some areas in shade will be cooling down too much to grow seedlings well.

Harvest the fruits of your efforts from past months – this is a time to enjoy results. We are harvesting Tromboncino squash [ like zucchini but tastier, chokos – in bulk now!, lettuce, endive, chilies, broccoli, kale [which is pretty well perennial here now and self-seeds well], silver-beet, bright-lights beets, beetroot, daikon radish, beans [including snake-beans/’yard-long beans’ which are giving a great harvest this year]

As the moon nears its smallest visible ‘dark of the moon’ phase, it is best to take a week off from planting or sowing seeds at this time as it is associated with spindly, weak growth.

For more information about moon planting, Organic Lesson gives a reasonably clear over-view. I like exploring such ideas for myself rather than just trusting and believing.

If you like experiments about when to plant for best results, check out the idea from a past month to see how the recommendations for best/worst seed sowing outcomes from moon-planting guides work for you. Maybe they do, and maybe they don’t.

At the minimum, these moon planting guides remind me to plant SOMETHING, plan a little, and help me have a continuous supply!